Psycho (1960) : 3 Stars 1/4Adapted from the 1959 novel Psycho by Robert Bloch , the black & white film centers on the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), who ends up at a secluded motel after embezzling money from her employer, and the motel's disturbed owner-manager, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). Hitch took many risks with this movie and all paid off by hitting gold in the box office, making it his most profitable. "Psycho" is simple, well-crafted and with an awesome particular scene (shower) !IMDB : 8.6 from 237,487 voters (Top250#30) Tomatometer: 97% (78 reviews) Box Office: 50 Million ($388,990,000 Adjusted for inflation)production cost: $806,947 ($6,277,829 Adjusted for inflation)

Psycho (1960) : 3 Stars 1/4Adapted from the 1959 novel Psycho by Robert Bloch , the black & white film centers on the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), who ends up at a secluded motel after embezzling money from her employer, and the motel's disturbed owner-manager, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). Hitch took many risks with this movie and all paid off by hitting gold in the box office, making it his most profitable. "Psycho" is simple, well-crafted and with an awesome particular scene (shower) !IMDB : 8.6 from 237,487 voters (Top250#30) Tomatometer: 97% (78 reviews) Box Office: 50 Million ($388,990,000 Adjusted for inflation)production cost: $806,947 ($6,277,829 Adjusted for inflation)

I don't really think it's simple at all. The entire first third of the movie is an exciting thriller until suddenly it becomes a horror film and completely shifts protagonists. How often does that happen?

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Wed Mar 13, 2013 8:05 am

Thief12

Assistant Director

Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 9:35 pmPosts: 882Location: Puerto Rico

Re: Hitchcock

Psycho is the kind of film I wish I could go back in time, and see without knowing the twist.

Psycho is the kind of film I wish I could go back in time, and see without knowing the twist.

Yeah. The first time I actually saw the film was with a bunch of my buddies in high school, and we were more shocked by the scene with the P.I. on the stairs than anything else--we knew about the shower scene and the ending.

Wed Mar 13, 2013 10:07 pm

unwindfilms

Director

Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 5:22 pmPosts: 1057Location: Hobart Australia

Re: Hitchcock

JamesKunz wrote:

I don't really think it's simple at all. The entire first third of the movie is an exciting thriller until suddenly it becomes a horror film and completely shifts protagonists. How often does that happen?

Vertigo (1958) : 3 3/4 StarsIt is psychological thriller film adapted from the 1954 novel D'entre les morts by Boileau-Narcejac. John "Scottie" Fergusson (James Stewart) is a San Francisco detective recently retired due vertigo and depression however despise these disabilities he accepts to investigates the unusual activities of an old friend's much-younger wife Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak) . Jimmy Stewart's acting is superb , the films shows a complete arc about his acrophobia and his scenes with Kim Novak who also plays a complex character are excellent. The camera "Vertigo" effect is very good. The pace of the movie at the beginning is slow but half way onwards really suck you in.IMDB: 8.5 from 144,405 users (top250#52)Tomatometer: 98% (58 reviews)Production cost: $2,479,000 ($19,753,083 Ajusted for inflation) Box Office: (Only USA) $14,000,000 ($111,554,325 Adjusted for inflation)

I am not spoiled for Pyscho's twist, and I guess it right about halfway through. The obscuring of the mother in the shower scene had me guessing, and then the camera angle with the PI scene at the stairs and when the mother was carried down only confirmed it, the latter scene especially telling in how it tries to trick us. It's still a great movie, and I imagine that movies copying and being influenced by its style many times since is the reason why the twist might seem obvious today.

Last edited by peng on Thu Mar 14, 2013 7:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

Thu Mar 14, 2013 6:56 am

unwindfilms

Director

Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 5:22 pmPosts: 1057Location: Hobart Australia

Re: Hitchcock

peng wrote:

....my favorite Hitchcock is Rear Window. I thought it is a perfect combination of Hitchcock's thematic compexity (Vertigo) and fun (North by Northwest).

Shadow of a doubt (1943): 2 Stars 3/4An American psychological thriller, black & white Hitch's earliest classic film starring Teresa Wright as an innocent teen ager and Joseph Cotten as her evil uncle "Charlie" . Based on a short story by Gordon McDonell and screenplay by Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, and Alma Reville (Hitch's wife). This is a dark and unsettling "family" movie but guess what? The very favourite of Hitch lolIMDB: 8.0 from 31,849 votesTomatometer : 100% from 31 reviewsProduction cost: UnknownBox Office: Unknown

Marnie (1964) : 2 Stars 1/2Based on a novel by Winston Graham, Mark Rutland (Sean Connery) is a wealthy man with a hobby for animal behaviour who marries Marnie (Tippi Hedren) a thief with pathological serious problems and tries to help her to confront them . Sean Connery was in his hey hey "James Bond" days and Hitch was having a string of hits but neither of them saved this boring psychological thriller. Connery and Hedren acting performance are good but the production values with very obvious "fake" backgrounds" and annoying blood "flash back" effects even for the times seemed very under average . Definitely a second "tier" Hitchcock filmIMDB: 7.1 from 22,128 users Tomatometer: 80% (From 30 reviews)Box Office: $7 Million world wide ($52,420,000 Adjusted for inflation)Production cost: $ 3 million ($22,000,000 Adjusted for inflation)

Yep, "Marnie" is all over the place, way too long and with poor special FX. For me it started with "The Birds" when Hitchcock had lost it - IMHO it was all the way downhill after that, with the exception of one last great movie: "Frenzy", where he made the very smart move to go "back to the roots" - in this case back to his native London with a fantastic all British cast. Hitchcock was at a peak from the late 50s through 1960. Look at the long list of movies (many of them great ones) he made before that. It's obvious he had to run out of steam and out of fashion at a certain point. One evidence that Hitch himself was aware of that was that he fired composer Bernard Herrmann during production of "Torn Curtain", released two years after "Marnie". The widely believed reason is that there was a clash of two huge egos. That was very likely true, but I also believe that Hitch had heard the jazzier music in movies like "Charade" (which is basically a Hitchcock movie with just a little more light humor and the leads gender-reversed - music by the great Henry Mancini) and found Herrmann's style too heavy and by the time out of fashion (Herrmann himself stated in an interview that he was against composing a jazzier score, something Hitch asked for). Hitch very likely started to doubt himself and lost focus. I am only speculating, but I guess there are quite a few people agreeing with me.

BTW: regarding Hitchcock's post-Marnie composers: he inicially hired the aforementioned Herny Mancini for "Frenzy" and fired him because he sounded "too much like Herrmann". After that he hired Ron Goodwin, which was an excellent choice BTW. But I can't help noting that Mancini was American and Goodwin British. But that is again only speculation from myself. Reality is always more complex.

And one last little known (or talked about) thing: Hitch's last movie "Family Plot" was scored by the always awesome John Williams (who started as a jazz pianist and co-arranger with Henri Mancini).

BTW: Bernard Herrmann got his chance to prove that he can write a great jazzy (even if not upbeat) score: "Taxi Driver".

Sun Mar 17, 2013 2:31 pm

Thief12

Assistant Director

Joined: Sat Dec 15, 2012 9:35 pmPosts: 882Location: Puerto Rico

Re: Hitchcock

unwindfilms wrote:

Vertigo (1958) : 3 3/4 StarsIt is psychological thriller film adapted from the 1954 novel D'entre les morts by Boileau-Narcejac. John "Scottie" Fergusson (James Stewart) is a San Francisco detective recently retired due vertigo and depression however despise these disabilities he accepts to investigates the unusual activities of an old friend's much-younger wife Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak) . Jimmy Stewart's acting is superb , the films shows a complete arc about his acrophobia and his scenes with Kim Novak who also plays a complex character are excellent. The camera "Vertigo" effect is very good. The pace of the movie at the beginning is slow but half way onwards really suck you in.IMDB: 8.5 from 144,405 users (top250#52)Tomatometer: 98% (58 reviews)Production cost: $2,479,000 ($19,753,083 Ajusted for inflation) Box Office: (Only USA) $14,000,000 ($111,554,325 Adjusted for inflation)

The 39 Steps (1935) :3 StarsA black & white thriller film loosely based on the 1915 adventure novel The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan . Richard Hannay ( Robert Donat) tried to help a woman stranger by bringing her to his apartment (London) where she is killed just after she informed him of a spy plot, then having being framed for murder Hannay heads to Scotland (the only clue given by the woman) to wreck this spy plot and clears his name. On his way to Scotland meets Pamela (Madeleine Carroll) a blond (really? lol) lady who initially does not trust him but later on helps him in his adventure. The plot might be a bit far-fetched but this movie is fun, surprisingly fast-paced for a 1935 film with full of twists and turns.IMDB: 7.9 from 28,750 users Tomatometer: 98 % from 41 reviews Box Office: Unknownproduction Cost: Unknown

Last edited by unwindfilms on Fri Mar 22, 2013 9:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Tue Mar 19, 2013 7:02 am

unwindfilms

Director

Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 5:22 pmPosts: 1057Location: Hobart Australia

Re: Hitchcock

Frenzy (1972) : 3 StarsThe film is adapted on the novel Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Arthur La Bern and it is about a serial killer who is murdering London women with a necktie. Hitch is back on form after several flops with his last great film before his death. Very well paced movie with no twist but plenty of suspense, macabre scenes and even some minor humour provided by the relationship between the Chief Inspector and his wife.IMDB: 7.5 from 20,408 votesTomatometer: 87% (30 reviews)Box Office: $12,600,000 ($69,980,000 Adjusted for inflation)Production cost: $2 million ($11,110,000 Adjusted for inflation)

Frenzy (1972) : 3 StarsThe film is adapted on the novel Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Arthur La Bern and it is about a serial killer who is murdering London women with a necktie. Hitch is back on form after several flops with his last great film before his death. Very well paced movie with no twist but plenty of suspense, macabre scenes and even some minor humour provided by the relationship between the Chief Inspector and his wife.IMDB: 7.5 from 20,408 votesTomatometer: 87% (30 reviews)Box Office: $12,600,000 ($69,980,000 Adjusted for inflation)Production cost: $2 million ($11,110,000 Adjusted for inflation)

3.5! 3.5!

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Wed Mar 20, 2013 5:16 pm

dps

Second Unit Director

Joined: Thu Jun 02, 2011 5:49 pmPosts: 209

Re: Hitchcock

Threeperf35 wrote:

For me it started with "The Birds" when Hitchcock had lost it - IMHO it was all the way downhill after that, with the exception of one last great movie: "Frenzy", where he made the very smart move to go "back to the roots" - in this case back to his native London with a fantastic all British cast. Hitchcock was at a peak from the late 50s through 1960. Look at the long list of movies (many of them great ones) he made before that. It's obvious he had to run out of steam and out of fashion at a certain point.

I'm not quite sure about the details, because it was something I saw on a TV documentary about Hitchcock several years ago, and I haven't seen anything in writing about it, not even on Wikipedia, but apparantly the studio turned down Hitchcock's planned follow-up to Psycho. According to the documentary, this was a big blow to Hitchcock, in part because he'd been allowed to do pretty much whatever he wanted ever since he'd come to the States. I don't recall the documentary suggesting that this blow to his ego played a part in his artistic decline in the 60's, but it was certainly easy to infer that.

Fri Mar 22, 2013 3:17 am

unwindfilms

Director

Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 5:22 pmPosts: 1057Location: Hobart Australia

Re: Hitchcock

Dial M For Murder (1954) : 3 StarsBased on the popular mystery play by Frederick Knott who wrote also the screenplay. An ex-tennis pro (Ray Milland) carries out a plot to murder his wife (Grace Kelly) but when things did not go as planned then he improvises a plan B. The film was shot with M.L. Gunzberg's Natural Vision 3-D camera rig (It looks good in 3D) and for that, Grace Kelly acting (The most beautiful Hitch's blond) and the duel of wits between her husband and Chief Inspector Hubbard (John Williams) made this movie one of my favourites from Hitch.IMDB: 8.2 from 56,906 users Top250#167Tomatometer: 84% (From 31 reviews)Box Office: $6 Million ($51,780,000 Adjusted for inflation)Production Cost: $1.4 Million ($12,080,000 Adjusted for inflation)

The Birds (1963):2 3/4 StarsA suspense/horror film loosely based on the 1952 story "The Birds" by Daphne du Maurier. I personally enjoyed this well crafted movie as an hobbyist film maker about a simple plot on birds suddenly turning nasty. IMDB: 7.8 from 82,689 users Tomatometer: 96% (from 46 reviews)Box Office: $11,403,529 ( $86,570,000 Adjusted for inflation)Production cost: $3.3 Million ($25,040,000 Adjusted for inflation)

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